Frankford moves to ban smoking on public property

FRANKFORD — In a 3-0 vote, the Township Council took one step closer to banning smoking on public

property.

“It’s a no-brainer,” said Gary Larson, the township’s deputy mayor on Thursday. “We simply are following what the state has already put in place and felt that that was also

appropriate for our public parks.”

On March 20, the state Assembly passed a bill that would prohibit smoking at public parks and beaches statewide, but 24th District Assembly members Alison Littell McHose and Parker Space voted against the bill, citing infringements on personal liberty.

An identical Senate bill was scheduled to be voted on Thursday. According to Lou Crescitelli, spokesman for the District 24 office, the bill was held and not voted on.

As outlined in the Frankford ordinance, which passed its first reading at the June 10 meeting, smoking will be prohibited on public property, including parks, recreational facilities and municipal buildings.

In Sussex County, 10 of the 24 municipalities currently enforce smoke-free park and recreation area policies, including Andover Borough, Andover Township, Branchville, Byram, Fredon, Hopatcong, Newton, Sparta, Stanhope and Vernon, according to the Global Advisors on Smokefree Policy, a non-profit organization that promotes smoke-free air and tobacco-free lives.

The Frankford ordinance defines smoking as the burning, inhaling, exhaling or possession of a lighted cigar, cigarette, pipe or any other matter or substance which contains tobacco or other products that can be smoked. The ordinance prohibits

electronic smoking devices as well.

On municipal property, smoking will be prohibited within a 35-foot

radius of all entrances.

Parks and recreational facilities “shall include all public parks, playgrounds, ball fields, swimming pools, plazas publicly owned or leased by the township, and all property owned or leased by the township upon which the public is invited or upon which the public is permitted and where individuals gather for recreational activities, including all areas adjacent to such facilities, including, but not limited to, sidewalks, any parking area driveway or drive aisle,” the ordinance reads.

Municipal buildings includes all structures owned, leased, rented and/or operated by the township, or occupied by township employees and used for official township business.

If passed, violators will be subject to a fine of no less than $250 for the first offense, $500 for the second offense and $1,000 for each subsequent offense. Municipal employees who violate the law may also be subject to disciplinary action.

Patti Bussow, the township’s municipal clerk, said the second reading and public hearing for the ordinance will occur at the July 8 Township Committee meeting.

In other business, the township received a grant from the state Department of Transportation for a resurfacing project on Plains Road. The amount granted by the DOT was $132,500.

This money will allow the township to improve Plains Road, which is one the busiest in the township, since it leads to the Sussex County Fairgrounds, Larson said.

“The township will probably extend about $10,000 in engineering fees for the project,” Larson added. But “the vast majority of the project is, of course, taken care of by the grant.”

This is section two of the repaving project. Bussow said that section one was from the intersection of Plains Road and Route 206 to the Sussex County Fairgrounds. Section two will run from the Sussex County Fairgrounds to the Frankford Plains Church.